Kyolic Aged Garlic and High Blood Pressure

Abstracts of Published Studies
Showing Garlic's Potential Efficacy to Lower High Blood Pressure

Mechanism of garlic (Allium sativum) induced reduction of hypertension in 2K-1C rats: a possible mediation of Na/H exchanger isoform-1.

Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2003 Oct;69(4):217-22.

Al-Qattan KK, Khan I, Alnaqeeb MA, Ali M.

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait.

Garlic causes reduction in blood pressure (BP), however the role of Na/H exchanger (NHE) which mediates hypertension and related tissue-damage is poorly understood. In this study the effect of an established dose of raw garlic extract was investigated on the expression of NHE-1 and -3 and sodium pump activity in a 2K-1C model of hypertension in rats. 2K-1C animals showed high BP, increased serum concentration of PGE2 and TxB2, hypertrophy of the unclipped kidneys, but not in the clipped kidneys In addition, NHE-1 and NHE-3 isoforms were increased in both the 2K-1C kidneys, whereas alpha-actin was increased in the clipped but not in unclipped kidneys. Sodium pump activity was decreased in the clipped kidneys, but remained unchanged in the unclipped kidneys. Garlic treatment reduced the induction of NHE-1 only in the unclipped 2K-1C kidneys, whereas garlic treatment increased the sodium pump activity in both the 2K-1C kidneys. These findings demonstrate that the antihypertensive action of garlic is associated with a reversal of NHE-1 induction in the unclipped kidneys. Induction of NHE isoforms together with a reduced sodium pump activity might cause necrosis in the 2K-1C clipped kidneys due to cellular retention of Na+. On the other hand, activation of sodium pump by garlic extract in the kidneys should reduce intracellular Na+ concentration and normalize BP. These findings signify the use of garlic in the treatment of hypertension.

PMID: 12907130 [PubMed - in process]

Investigation of antihypertensive mechanism of garlic in 2K1C hypertensive rat.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2003 Jun;86(2-3):219-24.

Sharifi AM, Darabi R, Akbarloo N.

Department of Pharmacology and Cellular and Molecular Research Center, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-6183, Tehran, Iran. sharifal@yahoo.com

This study sought to examine the antihypertensive mechanism of garlic in two-kidney-one-clip (2K1C) hypertensive rat. In this study, the effect of garlic on serum and tissue including: aorta, heart, kidney, lung as well as circulatory (serum) ACE activity in 2K1C rats were examined. Four groups of rats were selected: control "CTL", sham-operated "SHAM", hypertensive "H" and garlic-treated hypertensive "GT" group. Hypertension was induced by surgery. Four weeks post-clipping, single daily dose of 50mg of aqueous extract of garlic was given orally to "GT" rats for 4 weeks. Blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff method.ACE activity was determined using HPLC. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) was significantly increased in "H" compared to "CTL" group. In "GT" group, blood pressure was significantly decreased compared to "H" group. The ACE activity in all tissues of "H" group was significantly increased compared to controls which was significantly decreased in garlic-treated compared to non-treated hypertensive rats. These results indicated a negative correlation between consumption of garlic, blood pressure and ACE activity in serum and different tissues in 2K1C rats, suggesting that garlic has a significant blood pressure lowering effect, which could partly be mediated by reduction in ACE activity.

PMID: 12738090 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Cardiovascular benefits of garlic (Allium sativum L).

J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2002 Jul;16(4):33-49.

Brace LD.

Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Although garlic is believed to have health-promoting benefits, many of the claimed benefits are not supported by good scientific studies. This review critically examined current scientific literature concerning claims of cardiovascular benefits from regular consumption of garlic or garlic preparations. The vast majority of recent randomized, placebo-controlled studies do not support a role for garlic in lowering blood lipids. There also is insufficient evidence to support a role in reducing blood pressure. While there have been indications of antiatherosclerotic effects associated with garlic consumption, there are insufficient data in humans. Investigation of antithrombotic effects of garlic consumption appears to hold promise, but too few data exist to draw firm conclusions.

PMID: 12597261 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Effect of dietary garlic (Allium Sativum) on the blood pressure in humans--a pilot study.

J Pak Med Assoc. 2000 Jun;50(6):204-7.

Qidwai W, Qureshi R, Hasan SN, Azam SI.

Department of Community Health Sciences, Community Health Centre, Aga Khan University, Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To find out whether individuals with blood pressures on the lower side consume more garlic in their diets. A pilot study to make grounds for more elaborate future trials. METHOD: A questionnaire was developed in order to estimate the dietary intake of garlic per person per month and to record three blood pressure readings on each individual. It was administered to 101 adult subjects, presenting to the Family Practice Centre of a hospital in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. The various demographic parameters including age, sex, marital status and education were recorded. Those subjects found to be overweight, with known history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease, and smoking and on medications, which effect blood pressure, were excluded from the study. This was done to remove the effect of confounding variables on Blood Pressure. The data was entered into the epi-info program and the analysis was done using the SPSS software. RESULTS: An average garlic use of 134 grams per case per month was found. 67% of the subjects used garlic in cooked food while the rest used either in the raw form or in pickles. 59% thought that dietary use of garlic is healthy. Subjects with blood pressure on the lower side are found to consume more garlic in their diets. (The mean difference is significant for systolic with p value of 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study shows that individuals whose blood pressures are on the lower side are more likely to consume more garlic in their diets. (Statistically significant for systolic blood pressure only). This was a pilot study and more elaborate trials are recommended to prove this association.

PMID: 10979632 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Garlic prevents hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in rats.

Am J Physiol. 1998 Aug;275(2 Pt 1):L283-7.

Fallon MB, Abrams GA, Abdel-Razek TT, Dai J, Chen SJ, Chen YF, Luo B, Oparil S, Ku DD.

Liver Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0007, USA.

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction underlies the development of high-altitude pulmonary edema. Anecdotal observations suggest a beneficial effect of garlic in preventing high-altitude symptoms. To determine whether garlic influences pulmonary vasoconstriction, we assessed the effect of garlic on pulmonary pressures in rats subjected to alveolar hypoxia and on vasoconstriction in isolated pulmonary arterial rings. Garlic gavage (100 mg/kg body wt) for 5 days resulted in complete inhibition of acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction compared with the control group. No difference in mean arterial pressure or heart rate response to hypoxia was seen between the groups. Garlic solution resulted in a significant dose-dependent vasorelaxation in both endothelium-intact and mechanically endothelium-disrupted pulmonary arterial rings. The administration of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) inhibited the vasodilatory effect of garlic by 80%. These studies document that garlic blocks hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in vivo and demonstrate a combination of endothelium-dependent and -independent mechanisms for the effect in pulmonary arterial rings.

PMID: 9700088 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Hypertension and hyperlipidaemia: garlic helps in mild cases.

Br J Clin Pract Suppl. 1990 Aug;69:3-6.

Auer W, Eiber A, Hertkorn E, Hoehfeld E, Koehrle U, Lorenz A, Mader F, Merx W, Otto G, Schmid-Otto B, et al.

Incorporated Society, Nittendorf, West Germany.

Forty-seven non-hospitalised patients with mild hypertension took part in a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial conducted by 11 general practitioners. The patients who were admitted had diastolic blood pressures between 95 and 104 mmHg after a two-week acclimatization phase. The patients then took either a preparation of garlic powder (Kwai) or a placebo of identical appearance for 12 weeks. Blood pressure and plasma lipids were monitored during treatment after four, eight and 12 weeks. Significant differences between the placebo and the drug group were found during the course of therapy. For example, the supine diastolic blood pressure in the group having garlic treatment fell from 102 to 91 mmHg after eight weeks (p less than 0.05) and to 89 mmHg after 12 weeks (p less than 0.01). The serum cholesterol and triglycerides were also significantly reduced after eight and 12 weeks of treatment. In the placebo group, on the other hand, no significant changes occurred.

PMID: 2083170 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]